Your first step in searching for a place to eat, looking up information about a potential pair of new shoes, or finding out how far the mall is from your location are all ideas which typically include some type of query into a search engine. This routine turn to search engines by consumers is something marketers are seeking to capitalize on. The use of search engine marketing means being at the top of search engine queries, ready to direct visitors to your website, with the goal of ultimately leading to higher brand awareness and conversions.
Search engine marketing is a digital marketing strategy in which the main goal is to increase visibility in search engine results and increase the amount of traffic directed to your website. The main driver of search engine marketing is the use of keywords. Identifying relevant keywords used by your prospective customers increases your appearance in their search queries. The ability for a website to “speak the same language” as potential visitors helps better connect searchers to your site. Those seeking to optimize search engine marketing should understand the way in which prospective customers are searching for various products, information, or services in order to be the most relevant among those search results.
Understanding the importance of search engine marketing is crucial to marketers due to the fact that by 2021, global retail e commerce sales will reach $4.5 trillion. This means that consumers will be turning to search engines to guide them throughout the buying process. Being present in the buying process during the information search can increase the chances of visitors viewing your website and product offerings. Search engine marketing is beneficial during the information search stage of the buying process because this is the stage in which buyers are most open to accepting new information. Search engine marketing is non-intrusive and provides consumers information when they are actively searching, instead of interrupting or trying to bombard consumers’ increasingly busy lifestyle with other ads.
Implementing search engine marketing as a small business partner with Google, Alabama Media Group has a long track record of creating meaningful results for customers. Bromberg’s, a locally-owned and operated jewelry store, approached AMG with an objective to stay in front of low funnel consumers on search engines when they are searching for the brands and product lines that Bromberg’s carries.
AMG implemented search engine marketing to stay competitive in the diamond jewelry, watches, and engagement categories. Utilizing Google’s sophisticated data, AMG targeted users who have interest in certain categories that are not directly jewelry related- however these users were probable to also have an affinity for jewelry, such as luxury travelers or fashionistas. With this strategy, people who have been researching or visiting websites about diamond education were targeted as well. Through constant monitoring, ongoing campaign optimization, in combination with the support of other marketing initiatives, AMG was able to increase Bromberg’s overall website traffic by 20.54% year over year, increase mobile traffic by 43.87%, and increase website lead conversions by 50.70%.
To see how AMG can simultaneously manage campaigns across Google, Yahoo, and Bing, manage keyword bids and budgets 24/7, identify and bid in real-time on relevant keywords based on budget, or the many other search engine marketing offerings provided by AMG, click here.